Ventnor school district waiting, watching as Brigantine attempts to pull students from Atlantic City High School

The Brigantine School District has already sought to sever its
relationship with Atlantic City High School, and now Ventnor is
weighing its options.

The Ventnor School District is in a "wait-and-see pattern" when
it comes to Brigantine's bid to send its students to Cedar Creek
High School in Egg Harbor City, Ventnor Superintendent Carmine
Bonanni said. A successful effort by Brigantine could lead the way
for Ventnor, one of three other Atlantic City High School sending
districts, to make a change.

"We don't know if it's going to fly," said Bonanni, "but if it
does, it would have statewide implications."

The success rate when it comes to ending a sending/receiving
relationship in New Jersey "is about 50/50," said Michael Yaple, of
the New Jersey School Boards Association. "So it's not the easiest
thing to do. It's not necessarily a given."

Brigantine has already completed the first step in the process:
funding a feasability study.

State law says the commissioner must consider "the educational
and financial implications for the sending and receiving districts,
the impact on the quality of education received by pupils in each
of the districts and the effect on the racial composition of the
pupil population of each of the districts."

That last requirement, designed to prevent racial disparities
among area schools, has been the sticking point in several attempts
to sever sending relationships, including Absecon's unsuccessful
attempt to leave Pleasantville High School in 1988.

If Brigantine did leave Atlantic City High School, the white
population of ACHS would drop from 19 percent to 15 percent,
Brigantine's feasibility study shows.

Ventnor, however, has a student population that is more than 50
percent minority. "So for Ventnor to pull out wouldn't make a
difference," said Joan Glick, Ventnor's representative on the
Atlantic City Board of Education.

Then there is the matter of where Ventnor high school students
would go. Bonanni said Ocean City High School and Mainland Regional
High School in Linwood are the closest, while Egg Harbor Township
also could be a possibility.

Bonanni added, however, that Mainland is probably already "at
capacity," which would make it difficult to absorb the hundreds of
Ventnor students who attend Atlantic City High School - 316 this
year, plus another 14 who attend Charter Tech High School for the
Performing Arts in Somers Point.

Mainland Superintendent Tom Baruffi did not want to comment
specifically about Ventnor but did say that in theory, adding that
many students from anywhere would be problematic.

Ocean City Superintendent Kathleen Taylor, meanwhile, said that
while there have been no discussions with Ventnor about a sending
relationship, "that would be something we would be interested in
and would consider if another school district approached us."

Ocean City's enrollment is declining, Taylor said, which is one
of the reasons the district applied for the state school choice
program, which allows districts approved by the state to accept
students from other towns at no cost to parents.

Ocean City High School's per-student tuition is $16,585 for its
three sending districts - Upper Township, Corbin City and Sea Isle
City - less than Atlantic City's $20,630, but still relatively
high. Brigantine would pay the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High
School District $11,957 per student if they were allowed to attend
Cedar Creek.

Glick said lowering the tuition was a bigger priority than
changing high schools.

"On a financial basis, it seems like a great idea," Glick said
of switching districts. "But logistically, I don't think it's a
great idea at all."

If Brigantine leaves, however, "I'm not sure what happens to
those of us left behind," she said.

For her part, "I actually don't think Brigantine would be
allowed to do it. I'm surprised they're as confident as they are.
... But if they pull out, the state can't stop Ventnor or Margate
from pulling out. They've got to let us do it."

One major result of Brigantine leaving, she said, would be the
loss of the more than $4 million in tuition Brigantine pays the
Atlantic City School District each year.

"Atlantic City is going to have to make that up," Glick said,
adding that she questions how the complex state tuition formula -
which includes more than 800 separate line-items - is
calculated.

"If nothing else, maybe we can put pressure on the state to
change the funding formula," Glick said. "We're being charged for
things that aren't high school-related. Maybe there's somebody in
the state who (cares) about that."

If Ventnor does make a change, however, they may find themselves
alone. Asked about leaving ACHS, Margate Superintendent Theresa
DeFranco said her district, which includes Longport students, has
had "not even any kind of discussions about that."